camera to read number plates at night.

[sut 0]

hi

 

i could do with some help please. i have had several attemps to steal my wifes motorbike and while i have video cameras that catch them in the act the police are not interested unless i can get perfect face images or number plates of the cars coming up the road.

the videos i have just show the car number plates as bright white and no detail can be made out at all. ( i will try to upload a video so you can see what i mean. )

 

can anyone recommend a good camera i can add to my system ( floureon model A6908NHS-UK ) to allow me to view car number plates at night,

 

or even a setting that may need changing to improve how the camera picks up at night.

 

thank you for any help,

[jeromephone 6]

You will need a LPR camera with the software to read the plates. I know Geovsion has one but have notused it so I do not know how well they work. Check other camera mfgs to see what they have to offer.

[sut 0]

are those sort of cameras expensive and connectable to my system or would i need a complete new sysyem to run it.

 

 

i was just hoping i could get a add on camera for my system that would show the plates

[Falcon2dr 0]

I just read an ad for an IR Light that is attached to a license plate frame, when turned on it completely washes out the readability of the plate. So, it may not be your camera, but those that are up to no good, have probably put this on their car....

 

I've often wondered why business only have cameras installed at ceiling heights, looking down at the top of someones head, instead of one's that are eye level. Cameras come in so many different sizes, that surely one could be hidden at a 6 ft level. Likewise I would think that a camera would have to be mounted way closer to the ground to get a really good look at a license plate. Just a thought.

[jeromephone 6]

look at your local convience store or bank that strip that shows the height of someone entering or leaving the building may well have a camera hidden in it. LPC work best when you can get a straight shot at the plate like at a parking lot entrance or toll booth.

[MichaelHarris259 0]

You will need a high-quality night vision feature and object detection feature installed in your camera.

[justsomeguy 0]

Some info about your setup would be helpful (could not find specs on your dvr....)
Anyhow, also about catching plate numbers... you do not need a LPR camera setup to catch the numbers but that would be the easiest way to go about it I imagine. I personally have built a few cameras and a big IR lamp that lets me get about 90% of plates that pass by at night. I am lucky enough that people are going 10mph or less and my cameras are in line with the direction of travel (perpendicular or off angle is much harder). Distance and zoom are very important. closer you can get to the car the better. My cameras that are effective for plates are a 50mm day/night w/ IR Pass filter(always set to B/W) to cut down headlights@ 50'  and then (2) cameras that are effective from 150'-300' that have slr telephoto lenses on them(135mm and 200mm). These lenses are cheap as not so many people using old film cameras anymore but they are not day/night so they suffer from bad focal shift day to night . Cheaper for me to have two separate setups, one for day with the iris set tight for long focal length and the other for night with the iris pegged wide open short focal depth but good night vision. I will be putting another IR pass filter on the telephoto lens as well as during the day having the iris pegged open really renders it worthless. Took a while to get them all set up and inside enclosures but I am very happy with the results.  Camera boards are Sony IMX322 boards that are very flexible for exposure etc.  None of the cameras have IR on them and are aided by an external IR flood which cuts down on the false triggers from bugs being lit up at night.

So yes, if you are good with DIY you can make something but I have always wondered what an entry level LPR cam would do compared to what I have made.

There are some okay looking cameras on ebay that start at around $200 that I would try if I were to do it again.... but again I am happy with my overly redundant setup after seeing how much the REAL cameras cost